May 28, 2014

Governor Steve Beshear announced on Wednesday that he will put on the same size suit as Mark Cuban and host eight “Shark Tank” style regional pitch competitions throughout Kentucky. The applicants will be representing their business ideas to a group of local angel investors, individuals who provide capital for start up companies. Winners will receive cash prizes and the opportunity to present their business plans to the entire Kentucky Angel Investors Network (Kentucky Angels) in Frankfort.

“The next great idea can come from anyone,” said Gov. Beshear. “As a state, we need to support these visionaries and provide them the tools to turn their vision into a reality, including the financial means to get started. I look forward to seeing more small businesses and new jobs come to life as a result of these competitions.”

Local Louisville Business Made a Deal on the Shark Tank

The events will take place in Ashland, Pikeville, Murray, Elizabethtown, Richmond, Covington, Lexington and Louisville.

Back in the forties, fifties and sixties, there was a very popular burlesque dancer by the name of Evelyn West. “The Hubba-Hubba Girl,” they all called her. But before she was dancing under the bright lights in Hollywood, she was Amy May Coomer from Elroy in Adair County, Kentucky.

Coomer moved to Illinois with her mother at a young age, leaving her father and older brothers back in Kentucky, and eventually landed a gig performing at the state fair in a sideshow. She moved to Sacramento, California during World War II, now as Evelyn West, before getting her big break as a dancer at the President’s Club in San Francisco. From there she starred in her own burlesque Hollywood film called “A Night At The Follies,” leading to feuds with stars like Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield.

West was not afraid to go after the women she viewed as competitors. Just ask Swedish sex symbol Anita Ekberg, who was on the receiving end of a flying tomato from West when Ekberg walked out of the club during one of her routines.

But strip clubs and rivalries aside, Evelyn West may be best known as the woman who insured her own breasts for $50,000 (roughly $160,000 today) through Lloyd’s of London, an insurance company in England. She was so proud of her chest and its new insurance policy, she attempted to have her name legally changed to Evelyn “$50,000 Treasure Chest” West at the Menard County Court Circuit in Illinois.

Once life slowed down for the pinup star, she settled down in south Florida, where she passed away in 2004. Several of her relatives still live in Kentucky today.

So, there ya go… Who knew the woman with the most famous chest of the forties and fifties was born here in the great state of Kentucky?

Imagine you’re an intrepid international traveler — let’s say you’re from Finland, perhaps — flying into these great United States and taking your very first step onto American soil. And, perhaps, let’s also say that your destination is the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport. You take a look around at all that the U.S. has to offer — the CNBC News & Gifts Shop, a Panda Express — and breathe in deep. Because it just doesn’t get anywhere better than this, not anywhere in America.

Apparently, in fact, that’s exactly what peoples from foreign countries think of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport, as this past year the airport was ranked 30th in the “World’s Top 100 Airports in 2013″ survey. And if you aren’t impressed by that high number, consider this — CVG was the first American airport to even be mentioned in the list, right ahead of Denver at number 36. Yes, I know. That is crazy. I mean, CVG doesn’t even have a Cinnabun. All it has is something called “Natalie’s Candy Jar.” And what the hell is that, even?

But wait — all that incredibleness doesn’t come cheap. What, you think this Great American Bagels just pays for itself? Just last week, the Wall Street Journal printed that of the nation’s 75 largest airports, CVG is also the number one most expensive. This is largely because CVG, which was once a Delta hub, has been hobbled by Delta’s reduction in flights in and out of the city, causing regional jets to take prominence. That means smaller planes and more demand. And you know what happens when airlines smell demand, right? My flight to Las Vegas four months from now costs six hundred dollars and includes a stop in Salt Lake City, that’s what.

Tonight we have a feel-good story for you from southeastern Kentucky, where the Barbourville Tigers upset Knox Central, 1-0, Tuesday night to claim its second 51st District Championship in three years. But it’s not the play on the field or the district title that has us applauding the Tigers here this evening; it’s what they did after the game that needs to be shared.

Immediately following the big win, the Tigers hurried off the field, 51st District trophy in hand, to Hampton Funeral Home, where friends and family of Tina Rose were gathered for her visitation. Rose, the mother of Barbourville senior shortstop Jacob Rose, passed away on Saturday. He chose to join his teammates on the field in the district championship over attending her visitation with his family.

Jacob and his teammates filed into the funeral home in their dirty, sweaty uniforms just in time to pay their respects before the ceremony ended Tuesday night. Jacob carried the trophy inside and took it up to his mother’s casket to show it off. She would be proud, too, because we’re told he played “incredibly” Tuesday night and was named to the All-Tournament team after the game.

You can see him holding the trophy with his teammates below:

Jacob Rose holding the trophy

One Barbourville parent said it best: “Some times you can save the game, but this week, the game saved our Jacob.”

Coming this July, Kentucky gets its own Pigeon Forge style outlet mall right off of I-64. This mecca of shopping developments is slated to open with 79 confirmed stores across the 50 acre plat. The open air outlet mall is expected to employ over 1,000 workers and drive over 8 million dollars in tax revenue for the city and state. Great news for the state and great news for the folks of Simpsonville who will become home to the largest outlet mall in Kentucky.

The “deal”, which in today’s terms has such a negative connotation, was laid out very simply by the Mayor of Simpsonville.

Mayer Eden said in a recent interview “My initial thought was a thousand jobs which really interested us coming out of the slow economy of 2008… It’s not something we went out and looked for, they pretty much found us. Through the process, we think its going to be a great asset,”

A business development company, a business plan, and an eager county. Without a party to take credit or blame for a business’s failure or success, the headlines are less sexy, but a good business deal rarely is.

Horizon Group Properties is no stranger to developing community altering projects. In Oklahoma City in 2011, Horizon, along with partner CBL Construction, managed to build the only large scale shopping mall in the US despite a lukewarm economy throughout much of the country.

Horizon Group even made a choice in the Shelby County project to include the community in the naming of the mall-

“We invited the people of Kentucky to name the center and we are thrilled with the response,” said Gary J. Skoien, chief executive officer of Horizon Group Properties. “We had over 2,000 responses through emails and Facebook messages that overwhelmingly suggested we include ‘Bluegrass’ in the name.”

If you’re currently seeking employment, there will be two job fairs over the next few weeks. Details can be found below along with all the shops that are currently slated for the opening.

Let’s pretend, for a moment, that you are a person living in Whitesburg with something you really need to get off your chest. You’ll need to look no further than the city’s newspaper of record, The Mountain Eagle, to get your message across to your fellow citizens in its “Speak Your Piece” department. It’s democracy in action, people, and it’s beautiful. These, then, are the highlights of Speak Your Piece from May 7-14.

———

“I think it is a shame that a candidate for magistrate in District One wouldn’t have run, but his wife has made him.”

If elected, his first order of business is to finally finish fixing the shed in the backyard.

———

“I found a real nice cell phone near the mouth of Buck Lick. If anyone can describe it, they can call me at 335-1290.”

Sir, I fear your preferred method of contact is going to be your folly.

———

‘”My Old Kentucky Home’ is the official song of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It is beautiful and sweet. Every time I hear it, it makes me want to cry.”

She also has some strong feelings about “Rhiannon” by Fleetwood Mac, but those can wait until next week.

———-

“To a certain person: I saw you at Walmart the other day. I hadn’t seen you in a long time. You looked so good. It’s all I could do to keep my hands off you.”

I know a certain person who might want to stay away from Walmart for a while.

———-

“If you want to see a good-looking truck driver go to the Dollar Store at Mayking on Tuesdays. The Pepsi truck driver is good looking. He is very friendly, too.”

Ladies, this fellow sounds like the total package! Plus: FREE PEPSI.

———

“I thought people running for sheriff should be law-abiding citizens. Randall Adams is tampering with people’s mailboxes and buying votes with potato chips.”

I don’t mind the mailbox tampering, but the free potato chips were the last straw.

———-

“Randall Adams came to my door campaigning for sheriff and handed me a bag of potato chips. I got to thinking that he was trying to buy votes. Isn’t that against the law? I called the Attorney General’s office and reported him for vote buying. They laughed when I told them that he was using potato chips.”

WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? WHY DOESN’T ANYONE ELSE CARE ABOUT RANDALL ADAMS AND HIS FREE POTATO CHIPS?!?

———-

“We have Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Grandparents’ Day and Presidents Day. Why don’t we have Son’s Day, Daughter’s Day and the Midnight Phantom’s Day? Thank you very much.”

These all sound like a wonderful idea. Except for Midnight Phantom’s Day; that might just encourage it to stick around, and half of us have already been murdered by it.

———

“Inquiring minds want to know who the two grouches in Whitesburg are these days.”

I’m don’t know, but I’m pretty sure that one of them — and I’m not naming names here — hates free potato chips.

———

“My husband and I went up on the hill the other night to listen to the band. Looks like they have two fine bartenders up there. Not. They need to do some rearranging up there.”

Oh, SNAP.

———

“Instead of worrying about what other people do, you should have gone fishing with your man while you had him instead of having sex with someone else while he was gone fishing.”

Well. I think we found the second grouch.

———-

“Is there an election this year?”

If you know the answer to this question, please just respond to your newspaper or computer screen. Thanks in advance.

Everyone knows that different parts of the country pronounce different words in different ways. However when you place the various pronunciations on a map and showcase around the country, what you get is an interesting look at who pronounces things correctly (us) and who is weird (everyone else). The site Viralnova has produced 22 such pronunciation maps and if you are like me, you can stare at them for quite some time. For instance the above map shows that in Kentucky, we generally call drinking a carbonated beverage, drinking a “Coke.” This is a Southern thing and much of the rest of the country says the way too formal “soda” (besides the upper Midwest which remains in first grade, calling it “pop”).

But what about other words? Take “Caramel”…how do you pronounce it?

I am a three syllable guy, but sitting here in the KSR newsroom, everyone else goes two syllables…so Kentucky is in the position as it was in the Civil War, a dividing line between two mindsets. Then there is the idea of a circle in which lanes of cars meet:

You get the idea (although the people in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont calling it a rotary is still bizarre). There are 22 more such maps below and it is a guaranteed way to have people in your office staring at you as you try and pronounce “pecan.”

What if a doctor told you that your medical condition required a heart procedure and that you must undergo surgery immediately in order to save your life? One would hope that you could trust that diagnosis, but today the Ashland hospital, King’s Daughter Medical Center, agreed to settle a claim brought by the federal government that alleged such diagnosis were falsified by its doctors. King’s Daughter agreed to pay $40.9 Million in damages for performing “hundreds” of unnecessary heart proceduresaccording to the Lexington Herald Leader. The claims accrued over a five year period in which doctors were alleged to have made “treatment decisions motivated by financial gain” in order to receive federal money via fraudulent billing of Medicare and Medicaid.

Over the course of five years, over 500 heart procedures were alleged to have been performed that were “unnecessary” and based on financial gain, rather than medical necessity. In addition, federal prosecutors found that the hospital paid “unreasonably high” payments to five local doctors who referred potential heart surgeries to the hospital for evaluation. As FBI agent Perry Turner said about the scheme, “The level of funds involved in this matter is staggering,” Perrye K. Turner, special agent in charge of the FBI in Kentucky, said in a statement. “This money has been stolen from the patients and taxpayers.”

In addition to the allegations against the hospital, one of the doctors alleged to have performed unnecessary heart procedures, Sandesh R. Patil, pled guilty to federal fraud charges and agreed to spend 30 months in prison. A hospital spokesman said that King’s Daughter agreed to the settlement in order to move on past “old cases”, even though it refused to concede any wrongdoing.

When snake-handling preacher Jamie Coots died of snakebite in February, his son, 21-year-old Cody Coots, stepped in to fill his shoes at Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name in Middlesboro. On Monday, just three months after his father’s death, Cody Coots suffered a snakebite of his own.

Like his father, the younger Coots declined medical attention, choosing to rely on prayer instead. The Coots family insists snakebite is part of God’s will and they should not use medicine for healing. Coots’ hand was swollen and turned black, according to a Facebook post from the family, but they expect him to be ok.

Now, I’m not one to challenge anyone’s religion, but is the snakebite really God’s will if you’re sticking your hand in a rattlesnake cage? And then shaking the snake in the air? Seems like you’re asking for it at that point.

Watch Cody dance with the rattler that killed his father, two days after his father’s death:

It might be a good idea to scratch Golden Palace Buffet off your list of delicious places to grab a bite to eat in Louisville. The restaurant’s owners are in hot water for trafficking other live human beings, like, you know, real people that breathe real air with feelings and stuff.

According to WDRB, Louisville police say the owners were illegally using men and women as workers, forcing them to work 12-hour shifts, six days a week, with “little or no breaks, and limited freedoms.”

The employees were kept in the basementof a home on Churchdown Lane and were transported to and from the restaurant in a van with wooden benches.

42-year-old Ming Chen was arrested and charged with human trafficking. Not cool, bro.

Until November 28, 2011, Randy Jenkins was an answer to a trivia question. As the last quarter back to beat the Volunteers, he served as a bookmark, a reminder that despite recent history, you’re saying there’s a chance. But since that date when the streak came to an end, and even a few months before that, Jenkins has had some tough times.

Since UK, Jenkins led a pretty normal decent athlete from the 1980’s kinda life. He went to Dallas. The Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys couldn’t pick a QB then or now. Jenkins Finished his season at UK with 24 TDs and 53 INTs. Right in line for a Dallas QB. Jenkins was only their for a brief stint before an injury, and then settled into a construction gig for almost 21 years.

Jenkins later ventured out on his own and dove into an up and coming niche market in which he could put his current skill set to use; fire damage and restoration services. This is typically good, fast, and insured work for the home/business owner. Do a good job, the insurance company pays you, the contractor. No hassle on the billing side. Fair wages for you and your employees. All should have worked out. But as any business owner knows, the devil is in the details.

In short, Jenkins has since been banned from two states as a contractor stemming from Scott County, VA and Sullivan, TN charges that spanned 2011-2012. His third charge came from similar fraud allegations during the same time frame in Kentucky and brought his troubling past to this brief spotlight. Officers arrested Jenkins on Friday, May 23, and he was transported by Harlan County Sheriff’s Deputy Hunter Luttrell and booked into the Harlan County Detention Center. His bond is $20,000 full cash. Happy Memorial day Randy and thanks for the W.

The American College of Sports Medicine ranked the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas in its 2014 American Fitness Index, which combines health behaviors, rates of chronic health problems, and community indicators such as parks, other recreational facilities, and farmers’ markets. And according to said 2014 American Fitness Index, the good people of Louisville and the Jefferson County area need to get their lazy butts off the couch and find some exercise.

According to the study, only 50th-ranked Memphis is in worse shape than Louisville when it comes to producing a clean bill of health. Kentucky’s largest city and its surrounding area ranked 49th on the list of 50, while Washington D.C. proved to be the healthiest of the bunch at No. 1. D.C. earned a score of 77.3 out of 100 possible points, three times better than Louisville’s 25.7.

Even worse, Louisville came in dead last in the personal health category, meaning it is time to put down the Quarter Pounder with Cheese and Marlboro Reds and pick up a dumbbell or golf club. The study found that only 12 percent of the population eats three vegetables per day, while 26 percent smoke cigarettes.

The good news? There is plenty of room to improve before the 2015 American Fitness Index. Let’s go for a jog.

By now the news is everywhere: Maya Angelou, arguably the most well-known American poet of the last hundred years, passed away at age 86 from an undisclosed illness. Known primarily for the acclaimed autobiography I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings — a coming of age story which detailed Angelou’s formative years as an African-American female growing up in Arkansas and her subsequent teen pregnancy — Angelou’s commanding presence and powerful writing helped turn her into an American icon. But aside from Angelou’s literary exploits from the pages to the presidential podium, the poet was also a bit of a modern-day Zelig. Want proof? Here we go, then.

1. She was a brothel madam. Struggling to raise her toddler son as a single parent, Angelou both danced at strip joints and ran a brothel, where she sometimes served as a prostitute herself.

2. She fought with Billie Holiday. Angelou was a stage singer when her voice coach offered to bring the storied jazz great to her house. Their contentious five-day relationship ended with Holiday shouting Angelou off the stage at an L.A. club and telling her “You’ll be famous, but it won’t be for singing.”

3. She made Tupac Shakur cry. Angelou told a CBC talk show that during the filming of Poetic Justice with Janet Jackson, she helped to break up a row on set between Shakur and another man. He was into a big row with another young man,” Angelou detailed, “so I said to him, ‘May I speak to you?’ and he was cursing, whoo. And I said, ‘When was the last time anyone told you how important you are?’ Did you know people stood on auction blocks and were bought and sold so that you could stay alive today?’ And finally he heard me and stopped talking and started to weep. I put my arms around him and walked him back into the arena and he quieted.

4. Angelou inspired Oprah before Oprah was OPRAH. When a young Winfrey was in her 20’s she pestered Angelou for an interview, which she promised to keep no longer than five minutes. The poet was impressed by Winfrey’s interviewing skills and promise to keep the interview to five minutes on the dot, prompting Angelou to ask her “Who are you, girl?”

5. Angelou was part of a dance team with dancer Alvin Ailey. Known as “Al & Rita” (Angelou’s birth name was Marguerite), the duo performed at clubs before Angelou left for a touring production of “Porgy & Bess.”

6. She was friends with Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Prior to the controversial latter’s assassination the two had planned to work together to further African-American rights.

7. She performed a devastating soliloquy in a Richard Pryor special. The sketch focused upon Pryor’s character of “Willie,” an alcoholic who comes home and passes out. Angelou plays his wife, who delivers a monologue of loss and despair as her wayward husband sleeps.

8. She directed a movie, starred with Tyler Perry and loved Sesame Street. Angelou directed actress Alfre Woodard in the 1998 film Down in the Delta, appeared in Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion and narrated Elmo Saves Christmas, also appearing in several other Sesame Street productions.

9. She designed a series of Hallmark cards. They did not, presumably, sound like this:

Kentucky Kingdom reopened on Saturday for the first time since 2009, but there is some concern that the the park’s premiere roller coaster, Lightning Run, may not be 100% safe. Lightning Run is the newest coaster, with 2,500 feet of track and an 80-degree ascent. It cost $7 million, and has an 100-foot drop. However, it also has a noticeable sway, as one person caught on film:

WAVE3 spoke to John Mulcahy, the director of marketing and communication for Kentucky Kingdom, who said that the coaster passed all safety inspections, and the sway is part of the natural give and take of a high-intensity roller coaster:

“There are so many twist, turns in this track that there are some points where it does release, and you see that movement,” Mulcahy said. “We are aware that there is movement in the coaster track, and it is there by design.”

Looking for something to do with the family this Memorial Day Weekend? There are plenty of fun events and opportunities right here in the state of Kentucky, just a short drive from wherever you are.

Check out this list of some of our suggestions to pass the time over the three-day weekend.

Lake Barkley and Kentucky LakeWhere: Western KentuckyWhen: Whenever!

The Kentucky Lake Barkley area offers a variety of attractions and activities for the whole family to enjoy. Whether you are seeking to reel in a monster bass or crappie, or just wanting to relax and enjoy nature during your Memorial Day weekend, Kentucky Lake is what you have been searching for. With 160,000 surface acres and 2,300 miles of shoreline, Kentucky Lake is large enough to accommodate a variety of water activities. Lake Barkley & Kentucky Lake attractions and activities include fishing, boating, skiing, and wildlife viewing.

In addition to water and wildlife, Lake Barkley & Kentucky Lake attractions also include golfing, shopping, dining, antiques & crafts, hiking & biking, hunting, camping, attractions and much more. With so much to see and do, the Kentucky Lake area is a natural choice to get away this weekend.

Lake CumberlandWhere: Central KentuckyWhen: Whenever!

Looking for all of the fun of the Kentucky Lake Barkley area but can’t make it that far west? A lot of that same fun awaits at Lake Cumberland in Clinton, Laurel, McCreary, Pulaski, Russell, and Wayne counties in Central Kentucky. There is always plenty going on during the holiday weekend.

Lexington’s Minor League Baseball team is in action at home Friday, Saturday and Sunday of Memorial Day weekend against the Augusta GreenJackets. A firework display will follow Friday and Saturday’s games, while fans are encouraged to bring their dogs on Sunday for “Bark In The Park.”

Individual game tickets range anywhere from $5.00 for the lawn to $23.00 for Diamond Club, with several options in between.

Celebrate Memorial Day weekend with the flavor of the islands at the Kentucky Reggae Festival, Louisville’s hottest event this weekend. Enjoy a Caribbean atmosphere of live reggae music, ethnic food and the Caribbean vendor market, a truly Caribbean atmosphere in Louisville’s backyard without the expense of traveling to the islands.

Kentucky’s only amusement park reopens Saturday, May 24 after being closed to the public for five years. No longer under the Six Flags umbrella, the park features 20 new rides in 2014, including a roller coaster called “Lightning Run” and “Fear Fall,” an attraction that drops riders 13 stories. There are a total of 54 rides in the park.

The Bluegrass Cycling Club will hold its annual Horsey Hundred in Georgetown this weekend featuring 30, 50, 66 & 100 mile rides in the surrounding area. The paths will wind past farms and rock fences and through railroad tunnels along scenic back roads.

Event registration is at Georgetown College. For more information go to http://www.bgcycling.org For information or email donald.leach@insightbb.com.

Civil War Days at Fort DuffieldWhere: West Point, KYWhen: Monday, May 26

Start your Memorial Day morning with a service at Fort Duffield Memorial Cemetery to honor the soldiers who died of hardship and disease at Fort Duffield while constructing the 1,000 foot long earthen fortification. Then stick around for the Civil War Days Living History Program presented by the Fort Duffield Heritage Committee, 9th Michigan Vol Infantry and Friends of Fort Duffield from noon to 5:00 p.m.

Admission to the program is $5 per person or $15 per family. You can attend the morning service for free.

One of Kentucky’s oldest festivals returns for an 84th year in 2014 with a special Thursday night concert featuring Kix Brooks from Brooks & Dunn and America’s Got Talent star Jimmy Rose. Stop by throughout the weekend for good food from street vendors, the carnival, more live music, and the crowning of a new queen.

The streets of downtown Elizabethtown in Hardin County will be buzzing with families, the smell of barbecue, the rockin’ sounds of blues, and the sight of thousands of motorcycles. The second annual “BBB” festival will kick off with a “Thunder Into E’town” motorcycle ride benefitting the Wounded Warrior Project and will continue well into the night with great BBQ and live blues acts until 10:00 PM. It’s a free event, suitable for all ages.

Oak Grove Tourism presents its seventh annual Spring into Summer Festival complete with carnival rides, a fireworks display, live music and several different variety shows. The festival is expected to attract more than 30,000 visitors from all over to salute the men and women who serve at Ft. Campbell. This year’s event will have several special guests including a Veteran Parachute Team and country music from Thomas Rhett.

I long ago assumed that we had reached a stage in understanding the internet where one rule was agreed upon by everyone: “if you have not heard of the source online, begin with the assumption that what you are reading is fake.” In a world where “news” now travels instantaneously via hundreds of different outlets, where you get your news becomes even more important. Thus one should never believe a story that appears out of nowhere (no matter how official sounding the site’s name may be) and on its surface seems shocking, without verification of some sort.

Case in point…yesterday’s viral story about Mitch McConnell that attributed shocking remarks to him was clear to me immediately to be an obvious fake. Early in the day, social media exploded (particularly on Facebook) with links to this story from “The National Report” which claimed McConnell said the Tea Party had lost because it hadn’t “learned to conceal its racism.” The article cites a “secret recording” of McConnell that it claimed to have obtained in which the Majority Leader makes absurd comments that were so ridiculous that no sane person could believe any politician would ever utter, especially a Majority Leader of the US Senate. The post attributes a number of racism comments to the Senator before ending with:

McConnell goes on to criticize his opponent Matt Bevin’s slow manner of speaking and “awkward eyebrows”, saying that both were “off-putting” to voters. The recording concludes with the advisor asking McConnell if he wants Chick-Fil-A or KFC for lunch, to which McConnell replied in obvious anger “You know I only eat the Colonel”.

Even though the post was bizarre on its face and was included amidst a number of obviously satirical articles (with titles like “Solar Panels Drain Sun’s Energy” and “Indiana to Consider Texting Based English Curriculum”), it immediately went viral, sparked in large part by naive readers who hoped the stories absurdity was true. It was shared over 25,000 times on Facebook and sparked huge debates all over social media about its truth, or lack thereof. On my own personal Facebook feed, I saw the article shared seven times and each share was followed by readers debating its content, with some accepting as a fact that the article was true. In short, people were duped.

At this point in the internet’s history, one would think that readers would be able to ascertain what is and is not true, but yesterday showcased once again just how gullible people can be. Even though the story has been completely debunked, I would assume many read it on Facebook feeds (or worse, just scanned the headline) and at this point still believe it to be correct. With a long campaign in the Kentucky US Senate race still to come, I hope people realize just how much misinformation exists on the internet and to read everything with a certain amount of skepticism. That way when this hotline pops up on their social media feed,

Allison Lundergan Grimes to Quit Senate Race Because Big Hats Will Not be Allowed in Senate Chamber”